The Russian leader noted that with these attacks, the Ukrainian armed forces are pursuing several goals at once: to divert the attention of their own population and sponsors from the failures of the so-called counteroffensive, to show that they can do something, and also to provoke Russia into retaliatory mirror actions.
“Although these are crimes, without any doubt. Bloody crimes,” Putin said.
Also during his speech, the head of state spoke about the disaster with the Il-76 plane shot down in the Belgorod region. Putin stressed that Russia will not stop prisoner exchanges with Ukraine.